<p>Does anybody have any tips to help to write a good Why "X" college essay? I'm working on the Reed essay and am just drawing blanks and I have to write atleast another 4 such essays so I've quite a steep road ahead. Does anybody have any tips to help write such essays?</p>
<p>I would imagine that you’d want to address why <em>you</em> think Reed (or another school) would be perfect for you. So you might want to research the unique features of the school to find some that nicely match up with your interests/strengths/goals. In that way, the school would know that you’ve looked into what kind of a college it is, and (hopefully!) made a case why you’d be a great addition to their student body. Just a thought!</p>
<p>Research their educational philosophy, curricula requirements, history, motto, etc. Make sure do you just write why you want to attend the university in question – you need to emphasize why the university would want you i.e. what can you contribute to the school.</p>
<p>Try writing a story about something that has happened to you, and then tie that into what you’re looking for in a school (and what you’re looking for in a school should be whatever Reed offers ;)).</p>
<p>For example–and indeed I’m making this up right now–you could tell a story about how you’re stuck in your usual large classroom at school, completely isolated from the teacher, surrounded by kids worried more about their grades than about what they’re learning. You could then go on to talk about how you want to get out of this environment, and that you believe Reed is the place for you, with its small classes, de-emphasis on grades, etc.</p>
<p>^Agreed. To add: you want to try to avoid the pattern “I think ____ school is good for me because… [insert list of reasons]”. Not only is this uncreative, but it is quite boring. Rather, do something like what the above poster mentioned, as it is somewhat original and personal. I did a day in the life at X school, and basically implied why it was perfect for me. </p>
<p>In these essays, in my opinion, there are two main things you want to try to avoid: writing about what everyone else will write about (with exceptions for self-selecting schools like Reed, Caltech, etc.) and writing about something (or, worse, a combination of things) you could just as easily get at a different school.</p>
<p>Great tips everyone! Anyone have any suggestions on how long “Why ______?” essays should be? I wrote a ~400 word one for Northwestern, is that too long/short on average? Thanks.</p>
<p>400 words is perfectly fine. I don’t think that the word count matters that much as long it is less than 500 words.</p>
<p>My essay is pretty huge, around 800 words. Is that too much??</p>